The primary exploration focus has been on the Gabanintha Vanadium Project southeast of Meekatharra in Western Australia, with the aim to develop the project to potentially supply high-quality vanadium flake product to the steel market and the emerging vanadium redox battery market.
Technology Metals Ltd (ASX:TMT) (FRA:TM6) has defined a simplified process flowsheet for the Yarrabubba Iron-Vanadium Project in Western Australia’s Mid-West to deliver high purity magnetite at a 75 to 90 micron grind size and at a rate of 1.5 million tonnes per annum.
Unique properties of Yarrabubba ore will facilitate the low-risk processing and deliver a premium iron ore product while the simplified flowsheet is also expected to provide capex and opex benefits.
Yarrabubba indicative CMB flowsheet.
The company believes the high-grade magnetite product is expected to deliver premium pricing in a period of expanding demand for higher grade and quality (greater than 62% iron) iron ore.
Large scale test-work has confirmed a high-grade, high-purity magnetite product, delivering an average of 63.4% iron and 1.6% vanadium at 125-micron grind size for fresh massive.
A resource weighted average grade of 62.8% iron and 1.66% vanadium at 75-micron grind with mass recovery of 49.6% and very low deleterious element levels from sighter test-work was also reported in February this year.
“Important milestone”
Managing director Ian Prentice said: “Defining a simple CMB flowsheet for Yarrabubba, expected to deliver capital and operating cost benefits whilst delivering a premium iron ore product, is an important milestone for the project development.
“It highlights the key parameters of the Yarrabubba orebody that differentiate this development from the majority of magnetite iron ore developments.”
Initial sighter metallurgical test-work designed to assess iron grades and recoveries to a magnetic concentrate, consisting of Low Intensity Magnetic Separation (LIMS) on seven representative composite samples, delivered strong high-grade, high purity iron (+vanadium) concentrate results across all of the mineralised units at Yarrabubba.
Test-work is continuing to optimise the Yarrabubba titanium by-product and refine the flowsheet for the titanium separation circuit, including investigating flotation to remove base metals (cobalt, copper and nickel) from the nonmagnetic tails stream.
New 3D animation video
In the company’s new 3D animation, fly over YouTube video for the Yarrabubba project, an indication of the layout, logistics and technical advantages of the project are demonstrated.
The narrator highlights the project’s massive mineralisation, which is rich in iron, vanadium, and titanium.
He says the main layer is 10 to 20 metres wide, dipping 60 degrees to the west with an average of 40% iron, 1.1% vanadium and 12.5% titanium making it ideal for low-cost, open-pit mining.
To view the video follow the link – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LnJwH_PZXnM&feature=emb_rel_pause
Iron and vanadium resource
The Yarrabubba Iron-Vanadium Project, about 14 kilometres southeast of the Gabanintha Vanadium Project, hosts an indicated and inferred resource estimate of 27.7 million tonnes at 38.7% iron and 0.9% vanadium pentoxide.
This includes a high-grade massive mineralisation zone of 14.4 million tonnes at 48.1% iron and 1.1% V2O5.
The indicated resource component of 9.6 million tonnes at 45.3% iron and 1.0% V2O5 consists of only fresh mineralisation which begins from only 10 to 15 metres below surface.
CSA Global prepared a maiden probable ore reserve estimate for M51/884 of 9.4 million tonnes at 45.3% iron and 0.97% V2O5, consisting of only fresh mineralisation and a large proportion of the high-grade massive magnetite unit.
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